News Conference with Minister of Health and Chief Public Health Officer

The Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health

May 4, 2009 4:00 p.m. (EDT)

Good afternoon. And thank you for once again being here. Today the number of H1N1 cases in Canada is 140. I want Canadians to know that they can find these numbers updated every day at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on the Public Health Agency of Canada’s website. I want to reiterate that the government will be only reporting on confirmed cases.

We are monitoring the situation with the Alberta affected pig farm. Let me reassure Canadians at this moment this does not pose a risk to our health nor to the safety of our food supply. I am in regular contact with the Minister of Agriculture to ensure a coordinated and informed response across the Government of Canada. The Prime Minister continues to be briefed on a regular basis and we remain vigilant. This government is taking all precautions – all necessary precautions.

Today Alberta is reporting the first severe case of H1N1 flu virus in Canada. The case involves a young girl from Edmonton who is currently in intensive care. I know I speak for all Canadians when I say we wish her a speedy recovery. As the Chief Public Health Officer has been saying from the beginning, cases of severe illnesses are to be expected with this outbreak. This development does not change our response to the situation and so we must all remain vigilant. We must continue working together across governments, countries, departments and branches of society.

It remains this government’s biggest – highest priority to keep all Canadians informed about ways to prevent infection. It is our best defence against further spread. As I have said consistently, we have a national pandemic plan and we will continue to follow it. Our government is prepared to deal with this situation and will continue to do whatever it takes to protect Canadians and their families.

As most of you will be aware, a number of Canadians travelling to different parts of China have been placed under preventative medical surveillance. Canadian consular officers are in contact with the Canadians involved to ensure that they are well cared for and have access to consular
assistance. We are maintaining close contact with the local Chinese authorities to seek clarification regarding these specific measures. Officials will travel on May the 5th to meet with a group of 22
Canadian students who are under medical surveillance. Consular officials have already spoken with members of the group by phone and they report that they are being well treated.

I would like now to pass on to Dr. David Butler-Jones, Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer for more detailed information on this issue. Thank you.

 

Dr. David Butler-Jones, Chief Public Health Officer of Canada

Merci et bonjour. As the minister said, Canada is reporting its first case of severe illness related to the H1N1 flu virus. This case does involve a young girl who is in hospital in
Edmonton. So our thoughts are with her and her family and we all wish for a fast and speedy recovery.

Up until now, we have been reporting that all confirmed cases in Canada have been relatively mild and that all have made a full recovery. However, the news of this first, more severe case, although disconcerting is not surprising and it does not change the course of action that we are taking.

As we’ve been saying, our heightened surveillance will uncover more and more cases with varying levels of severity. This case underscores a couple of things about influenza. It has few boundaries. It doesn’t respect borders. It often doesn’t respect age. Nature is very unpredictable as is the influenza virus. Even with regular seasonal flu, we see people get very ill. We on occasion also see young, otherwise healthy people get very ill or die. It is a very, very serious disease that takes its toll on people young or old. So we need to stay vigilant.

The message of prevention is critical. Washing hands, coughing or sneezing into your arm, avoiding others when we’re ill, not just today, not just with this outbreak but always.

Now you might have heard in the news that the World Health Organization may raise the pandemic level, the alert to Phase 6. It’s important to note that should a pandemic alert be raised, this does not mean the virus is more severe or dangerous.

Phase 5, which we’re in now, means that we are seeing the virus spread in more than two countries in one WHO region, in this case countries in the Americas. Phase 6 would simply mean that we are seeing the virus spread locally in countries in additional WHO regions. The WHO pandemic phases represent a global snapshot of this outbreak. In Canada, we will continue to respond based on the situation within our borders and recognizing what’s happening elsewhere. We are continually evolving our approach based on the changing situation here at home and we are well positioned to deal with this escalated phase should it occur.

Canada today is reporting 41 new confirmed cases of H1N1 flu virus: 10 in British Columbia, six in Alberta, 17 in Ontario, one in New Brunswick, five in Nova Scotia and two in Prince Edward Island. This brings the total number of confirmed cases in Canada to 140. You can find these updated numbers at the Public Health Agency of Canada website, publichealth.gc.ca

As I have said before, tracking these first cases is very important to our underlying and understanding of what this disease is about. This information helps us to understand how quickly the virus spreads, who it
affects and how.

I would like to extend my thanks to our provincial and territorial partners for helping to advance the understanding of this virus and for their support in building a national public health response.

Merci.